Owen Maier ‘20:
The retail giant Amazon is searching for an area to put its second headquarters, and Philadelphia is a frontrunner. The electronic commerce company famous for its expansive catalog and speedy shipping will be setting up a five billion dollar campus for over 50,000 employees. Philadelphia joins Chicago, Austin, Atlanta, Washington D.C., among others to be considered for the secondary base to its original Seattle location. If chosen, Philadelphia could suddenly become a hotspot for other technology giants, and perhaps become the most populous city in America.
Located between New York and DC, Philadelphia is well positioned on the east coast with an already strong urban environment- making it an attractive and fitting city for Amazon’s headquarters.
Employment has been booming in the city since 2013, and rents are currently lower than other major cities like Denver, Chicago, D.C., Boston, and Baltimore, according to a September Forbes article. Not to mention Philadelphia has its own international airport currently undergoing $900 million in improvements as well as decent public transportation. Despite its growth, the city still has several available locations that fit into Amazon’s requirements, including the Navy Yard, 30th Street Station District, City Square, and Pennovation Works.
Adam Lavallee, an upper school math and economics teacher, spoke about the the pros and cons surrounding this topic. Lavallee likes what Amazon could bring to Philadelphia’s economy: “[The jobs] are very good for the local jobs, and I’m assuming very good paying jobs.” The movement of people into Philadelphia, he says, would probably raise housing prices, a beneficial sign of a
city’s economy.
While Lavallee doesn’t think that the arrival would necessarily mean easier and cheaper access to Amazon’s services, he loves the potential impact it would have on local colleges. He said moving Amazon to Philadelphia would be “an awesome opportunity for both those universities and for Amazon because there will be a bunch of new workers.” Lavallee said that university students could also have opportunities to work and intern for Amazon, which would provide incentive for students and families to migrate to Philadelphia.
Alyssa Sheffy ‘19 believes that an Amazon headquarters in Philadelphia would be hugely beneficial to its economy. She said that “Amazon has the ability to bring working millennials and economic prosperity to our city.” Sheffy continued, saying that “An Amazon headquarters in Philadelphia would also really establish Philly as one of the strongest cities in the United States. Anaya Cherry ‘18 added that “[Amazon] will boost the city’s economy by increasing the amount of jobs in the city.” Both Cherry and Sheffy believe that there are many benefits to a Philadelphia Amazon location. Sheffy concluded that “I don’t really see any downsides of having Amazon in Philadelphia.”
There are some sacrifices to be made with all of these positive attributes, though. With this popularity, traffic would increase, turning Philadelphia into a constantly beeping and busy city. This in turn could impact its suburbs, lengthening commutes to schools or jobs. Cherry also agrees that the one major negative created would be “a substantial increase in traffic.” In addition, While raised housing prices are an indicator of a thriving economy, high real estate prices could make Philadelphia unaffordable to people of lower socioeconomic status.
Some of these drawbacks have been seen in Seattle, where Amazon’s primary headquarters is located. A Washington Post article titled, “What would happen if Amazon brought 50,000 workers to your city? Ask Seattle” says that though the company “contributed $30 billion to the local economy and as much as $55 billion more in spinoff benefits,” housing became a major issue for the city. In the past 20 years, it reports that the rent in neighboring King County has doubled. The housing prices worsened so much so that in 2015, the county declared a state of emergency due to homelessness. Jeff Reifman, a Seattle columnist, wrote on Greekwire in an Op-Ed titled, “‘Amageddon’: How Amazon’s culture is taking a toll on Seattle’s future” that an “Amazon-fueled future” would be “more male, even more white, wealthier and less diverse, unaffordable to those with lower incomes, including the firestarters of culture, artists.”
The jobs created by an Amazon campus in South Eastern Pennsylvania would nonetheless strengthen the local economy of businesses everywhere, and colleges in Philadelphia would become more competitive. In the end, a move to the city would pay huge dividends, cementing Philadelphia among the most populous and developed cities in the United States.